AI to revolutionise industrial internet in oil and gas markets

The almost incessant rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which has affected all industries, allied to a burgeoning digital twin sector, is now set to revolutionise the industrial internet of things (IIoT) in oil and gas, powering smarter connected assets across exploration, drilling and production, according to research by GlobalData. The research report, Industrial internet in oil and gas: Strategic intelligence , is based on the premise that IIoT involves the use of connected sensors and actuators to control and monitor industrial machinery and environments. The study noted that the global oil and gas sector is witnessing a growing adoption of IIoT in the upstream, midstream and downstream segments, due to its help in detecting faults early and predicting maintenance requirements. GlobalData suggested that this technology shift enables autonomous operations, predictive maintenance, enhanced efficiency and the agility crucial for navigating volatile markets. Overall, GlobalData assessed the oil and gas industry in 2026 as facing unprecedented external pressures, from high and volatile prices to supply uncertainty, climate change concerns, rising consumption of cleaner energy and the realigning of global energy trade routes. In addition, companies in the sector were found to be facing significant operational challenges driven by factors such as US tariffs, the Iran conflict, sanctions and protectionist policies. To secure future growth and resilience, operators were found to be embracing the industrial internet across their businesses. GlobalData calculated that the global industrial internet market is experiencing rapid expansion and is forecast to reach $552.7bn in revenue by 2029, reflecting what the analyst said was a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% from 2024 to 2029. Of this, the energy sector is expected to generate $79bn in industrial internet market revenue by 2029. Drilling deeper, the research stressed how the upstream segment is at the front line of industrial internet adoption. It observed how projects are increasingly capital-intensive and geographically remote, facing new subsurface challenges and rising environmental, social and governance (ESG) scrutiny. As a result, real-time monitoring and modelling are now expected, not optional. Digital twins, AI-driven drilling optimisation and field-wide IoT networks enable operators to simulate outcomes, remotely manage wells, predict equipment failures and integrate new production faster than ever. In the midstream segment, sensors placed across pipelines and tanks provide real-time data on pressure, flow and integrity, enabling faster leak detection and improved responses to anomalies. By contrast, in the downstream segment, real-time data collection and advanced process automation were found to be underpinning production optimisation, emissions control and energy management. Digital twins were seen to be enabling continuous process modelling, rapid scenario testing and proactive troubleshooting. Commenting on the study, GlobalData’s oil and gas analyst, Ravindra Puranik, said: “ Autonomous operations are rapidly becoming standard in digitally advanced oilfields, particularly in offshore environments such as fixed platforms and FPSOs, where remote and reliable management is both a logistical necessity and a cost imperative. Also, cloud-based analytics and AI systems connect the dots from raw input to final distribution, improving the accuracy of demand forecasting and inventory management even in volatile markets.” GlobalData’s study reflects other surveys into the growth of the IIoT. Research in early 2026 from satellite communications provider Viasat, The great connectivity convergence: NTN in industrial IoT , found that direct-to-device ( D2D )-based communications was all set for mass adoption in industrial IoT within 18 months, with rising urgency among decision-makers to adopt D2D IoT devices in their organisations (91% of respondents). The survey highlighted that the most beneficial use cases provided through D2D include crop storage monitoring in agriculture (33%), automated haulage vehicles in mining (36%), vehicular tracking and route optimisation in transport (43%), water infrastructure monitoring in utilities (43%) and wellhead monitoring in energy (33%). Read more about industrial internet Telefónica and Halotech drive smart industrial safety with IoT and AI : Firms unite to offer advanced industrial safety solutions, combining IoT connectivity with AI-powered sensors, to anticipate risk situations. Direct-to-device connectivity set to underpin next generation of industrial IoT : Research from satellite comms firm finds D2D connectivity will underpin the next generation of industrial internet of things, with almost all IoT decision-makers set to adopt the technology in the next 18 months. Qualcomm and Palantir extend AI to the edge for industrial IoT : Qualcomm Technologies teams with Palantir to run artificial intelligence capabilities on advanced edge computing platforms enabling real-time insights and data-driven decisions in industrial use cases. STMicroelectronics, Qualcomm team for next-gen industrial IoT : Strategic collaboration will pair STM32 microcontroller ecosystem and wireless connectivity solutions to allow simple, fast, and cost-effective design of next-gen industrial and consumer IoT applications.